There are so many reasons why we are fortunate to live in this beautiful town of Essex Fells.  Besides our very friendly neighbors, beautiful tree lined and walkable roads, we have access to great restaurants, a highway that easily takes us to NYC, the Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania and more.  The Essex Fells grammar school is one of the best in the state with a great field where our children play sports or just gather to have fun. In springtime, residents can go fishing in our pond, in summer enjoy the explosion of yellow flowers and in winter gather to go ice skating.

However, on a personal note, I have reason to be grateful to live in Essex Fells for on Christmas Day I experienced why I am very lucky to live in this town.

I was alone that morning.  My husband was visiting his sister. I was in my old bathrobe, my husband's slippers, and no makeup so my white eyebrows made me look much older than my age.  I was preparing dinner for our large family and needed to use our two ovens, one of which we hardly ever use so I did not check to see if it was clean.  Well, when I turned on that oven, it started to smoke triggering our smoke alarm which I could not turn off.

First the police came to make sure I was ok and that there was no fire. Then the firemen came.  The house was so filled with smoke that the volunteers brought a large fan and rushed to open windows in the dining room, living room,  and kitchen.  However, the alarm kept blasting and Chief Ken Monroe made many attempts to stop the noise.  Finally success!  

Meanwhile, Mayor Ed Davis was addressing the culprit of the smoke and started to clean the gas oven.  He was doing a great job but then Chief Monroe took over and finished the job. As a result, my cleaning woman Rosa does not have to clean the oven.

So on Christmas day I was rescued by the most caring and thoughtful men who are the members of the Essex Fells Fire Department as well as our town's police men. And this is the probably the number one reason why I and my family feel we are so lucky to live in Essex Fells.